Egyptian press under fire after Morsi's ouster

New York, July 8, 2013--An Egyptian photographer
working for a newspaper affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood was killed todaywhile covering clashes in Cairo, according to news reports. Other local and
international journalists have also reported being targeted in the aftermath of
last week's ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi.

Freedom and Justice, the newspaper of the Muslim Brotherhood's political party,
reported today that its photographer, 26-year-old Ahmed Assem el-Senousy,
had been shot by a sniper after photographing security forces firing on pro-Morsi
protesters. El-Senousy had been covering clashes between security forces and pro-Morsi protesters at
the Republican Guards headquarters, which have left at least 54
dead, according to news reports.

"A sniper silenced Ahmed Assem el-Senousy, but his killing has only
amplified today's tragic events," said CPJ's Middle East and North Africa
Coordinator Sherif Mansour. "Egypt's path to peace and freedom depends on
authorities respecting the rule of law and basic
human rights for all people."

Abeer al-Saady, vice chairman of the
Egyptian Journalists Syndicate, told CPJ that his organization would be granting
el-Senousy an honorary membership and would be supporting his family with a
pension.

The fatality comes after several days of
anti-press attacks and government censorship. A live broadcast van belonging to
state television was seized by pro-Morsi protesters near Rabaa al-Adwiya in Nasr City on Saturday
and used by pro-Morsi channels to cover the protest, according to news reports.

At a press conference today, a military
spokesman said last week's government censorship of several pro-Morsi channels was based on its belief
that they were inciting violence, according to news reports. The officer also expelled Al-Jazeera Arabic's Cairo director, Abdel Fateh
Fayed, and an Al-Jazeera crew from the press conference after other journalists
in the room said the channel
was biased in favor of Morsi, the reports said.

Fayed had turned himself in for questioning
yesterday after a prosecutor accused him of disturbing the public order and
threatening national security, according to news reports. No evidence was cited to support the allegations. On Saturday, the office
director for Al-Jazeera Mubashir, the network's Egypt affiliate, was released
on bail of 10,000 Egyptian pounds (approximately US$1,400) after being arrested
on July 3. A number of Al-Jazeera journalists were reported
to have resigned in recent days amid disagreements over the station's political
perspective in covering the unrest.

International journalists have also come
under threat. The BBC's Jeremy Bowen was hit in the head by birdshot fired by
Egyptian security forces as he covered pro-Morsi protests on July 5, according
to news reports. On the same day, the military cut off a live broadcast from CNN's Ben Wedeman in Tahrir Square. After Morsi
opponents accused CNN of bias, Wedeman tweeted yesterday that Tahrir was no longer safe for the CNN crew.

Other international journalists, including Ed Ou from Getty and Matt Cassel of Al-Jazeera English, have said on Twitter that said
Tahrir Square was not safe for foreigners. In the press conference today, the
military warned non-Egyptians to stay away from the protests.

A German TV crew led by Dirk Emmerich was
detained for seven hours today by security forces while covering the clashes
outside the Republican Guards headquarters, according to news reports citing Emmerich's Twitter feed.

In the past two weeks, two journalists and
a student have been killed while documenting protests and clashes between
supporters and opponents of Morsi. Prior to these deaths, only four journalists
had been killed in Egypt since 1992, according to CPJ research.